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Who is Gina McKee?
British actress Georgina ‘Gina’ McKee was born under the zodiac sign Aries on 14 April 1964, in Peterlee, County Durham, England. She has 98 acting credits, and is perhaps still known best for portraying Bella in the critically acclaimed 1999 romantic comedy movie “Notting Hill”, which starred Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant, and was directed by Roger Michell. It follows the most famous film star who’s fallen in love with a simple bookshop owner, and the movie won 11 of its 28 award nominations.
Gina’s still today active in the film industry, and is currently working on multiple projects.
Education and early life
Gina was raised in Peterlee by her mother who was a housewife and father who was a coal miner; because she’s yet to speak about having siblings, most of Gina’s fans believe that she’s an only child.
She fell in love with acting during her final year of elementary school, after her drama teacher cast her in a school play. Gina enrolled at high school in 1979 and the same year saw her make her debut TV series appearance, playing the lead character Jane in all seven episodes of the family drama “Quest for England”; she had no roles in the following five years, wanting to focus on her education.
Gina matriculated from East Durham College in 1983, and then applied to several drama schools, but was rejected by the Central School of Speech and Drama, London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
Roles in movies
Gina’s debut film role was playing Kim in the 1985 drama “Queen of Hearts”, and some of her following roles were in the 1986 drama “This Is History, Gran”, the 1988 horror comedy “The Lair of the White Worm”, and the 1989 romantic comedy “The Rachel Papers”.
In 1991, she played Lucy Lisle in the drama “Smack and Thistle”, which starred Rosalind Bennett and Charlie Caine, and was written and directed by Tunde Ikoli; it follows the life of a drug addict and criminal who wants to become clean and stop robbing peoples’ houses. Some of Gina’s other notable performances in the ‘90s were in the 1993 comedy “Naked”, the 1996 crime thriller “Element of Doubt” and the 1999 drama “Wonderland”.
In 2003, she played Lalla in the biographical drama “The Lost Prince”, which starred Brock Everitt-Elwick, Mathew James Thomas and Daniel Williams, and was written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff. It tells the true story of a British royal Prince who was locked away because he was suffering from epilepsy, and the movie won eight of its 29 award nominations. Gina could then have been seen appearing in the 2004 drama “The Blackwater Lightship”, the 2007 romantic mystery “Atonement”, and the 2010 drama “Dive”.
Looks very similar to Gina McKee's character Nurse Drummond in Atonement (St Tomas's hospital, 1940) pic.twitter.com/lNLv9QjUWB
— Rich Waters (@RichFishW) February 7, 2018
She portrayed the main character Wallis Simpson in the 2016 historical drama “Royal Wives at War”, which also starred Nick Waring and Emma Davies, and was directed by Tim Dunn; it covers the events in 1936 which led King Edward VIII to give up the throne.
Some of Gina’s most recent movie roles have been in the romantic drama “My Policeman” and the drama “Typist Artist Pirate King” both in 2022, and the 2023 thriller “The End We Start From”.
Roles in TV series
Gina appeared in an episode of a couple of series in the ‘80s, such as the thriller “Unnatural Causes”, the crime mystery “Inspector Morse”, and the crime drama “Rockliffe’s Babies”.
In 1996, she starred as Mary Cox in all nine episodes of the historical mini-series “Our Friends in the North”, which also starred Mark Strong and Christopher Eccleston, and follows the changes in politics across Britain from the 1960s through the 1990s; it won 10 of its 16 award nominations. The remainder of the ‘90s saw Gina appear in an episode or two of the crime drama “Frontiers”, the comedy “Brass Eye”, and the drama “Screen Two”.
In 2002 and 2003, she starred as Irene Forsyte in the historical romantic drama “The Forsyte Saga”, which also starred Rupert Graves and Damian Lewis, and follows the lives of members of the British upper-middle class family the Forsytes from the 1870s through the 1920s; the series won two of its six award nominations. Gina appeared in a couple of other TV series in the 2000s, such as the drama mini-series “Tsunami: The Aftermath”, the crime mystery “Inspector Lewis”, and the drama “The Street”.
From 2011 through 2013, she portrayed Caterine Sforza in the historical crime drama “The Borgias”, which starred Holliday Grainger, Francois Arnaud and Jeremy Irons, and was created by Neil Jordan. It follows the life of Pope Alexander VI in the 15th century, and the series won 16 of its 71 award nominations.
Some of Gina’s most recent roles in TV series have been in seven episodes of the 2019 fantasy science fiction “The Rook”, four episodes of the 2019 biographical historical mini-series “Catherine the Great”, and two episodes of the 2020 drama mini-series “Black Narcissus”.
Other credits
Gina sang the song “Nocturne In E Flat Major, Op. 9 No. 2” in a 2002 episode of the series “The Forsyte Saga”.
She produced the 2012 episode “Care” of the series “Playhouse Presents”.
Some of Gina’s most recent talk-show appearances have been in “Portrait Artist of the Year”, Inside Prison: Britain Behind Bars” and “Hollywood First Look”.
Awards and nominations
Gina’s won three of her 11 award nominations: in 1997 a BAFTA TV, and a Broadcasting Press Guild Award both for her performance in “Our Friends in the North”, and a 2022 Toronto International Film Festival Tribute Award for Performance, for “My Policeman”.
Love life and marriage
Gina rarely speaks about her love life in public but it’s widely known that she’s been a married woman for 34 years now. She and non-celebrity British man Stephen J. ‘Kez’ Cary exchanged vows in a small and private ceremony in August 1989, attended by not more than 100 of their friends and family members; not many details have been disclosed about Stephen as he prefers to stay away from media, but it’s believed that he’s a businessman.
Gina and Stephen have no children together; while most of Gina’s fans believe that she and her husband agreed not to have children as they wanted to focus on their careers, some believe that perhaps one of them is infertile. Gina hasn’t addressed these rumors.
There are no other men whom she’s been with, that we know about; Gina’s married to Stephen J. ‘Kez’ Cary as of September 2023, and doesn’t have children.
Interesting facts and hobbies
Gina’s a huge lover of animals and has had various pets; she’s also been a vegetarian since 1982, and has donated money to a number of animal shelters.
The University of Sunderland presented her with an honorary doctorate of arts in 2002.
Gina loves soccer and cheers for Sunderland; she was asked to narrate the 1998 documentary series on English soccer “Premier Passions”.
She dislikes social media networks and isn’t active on Instagram, nor has she allowed a fan page to be launched.
Gina likes to travel and has been all around the world; her dream travel destination is Bali, Indonesia.
One of her favorite actors is Matt Damon, and some of Gina’s favorite movies are “The Talented Mr. Ripley”, “Promised Land” and “Behind the Candelabra”.
Appearance and net worth
Gina’s age is 59. She has blue eyes and brown hair, weighs around 140lbs (64kgs) and is 5ft 8ins (1.73m) tall.
Gina’s net worth’s been estimated at over $6 million, as of September 2023.
